Tag Archives: care home

Appointments, Care, Midlands News, News

Sarah steps up to manage care home

A carer who started her career with Shropshire’s largest independent care provider has taken up the reins as manager of one of its homes.

Sarah Evans is the new manager of Coverage Care’s Briarfields, a 43-bed home in Shrewsbury, which recently opened a new dedicated dementia unit for up to 12 people.

Sarah has previously also worked for a private care company, but she is no stranger to Coverage Care.

She said: “I actually started my career with Coverage Care. I started as an activities organiser, and in a short time I worked my way up to deputy and then to manager. It’s a really rewarding career.”

Sarah, who has previously worked at Coverage Care homes in Telford and Market Drayton, has a team of nearly 50 staff at Briarfields but is keen to expand the team further.

She said: “We are looking to recruit care assistants, night care assistants and shift leaders. Applicants don’t need any specific qualifications, but they do need to be a very caring person. We offer extensive training and lots of support.

“Briarfields is a really, really caring home, and very “homely”. The staff are all very dedicated. We concentrate on the individual and are very person-centred.”

Coverage Care Services Ltd is Shropshire’s largest independent not for profit care provider and looks after elderly residents from their local communities and beyond.

Chief executive Debbie Price said: “I am delighted to welcome Sarah as manager of Briarfields. Sarah knows Coverage Care and our ethos very well and she is the perfect fit to lead the growing team.”

Coverage Care operates 12 individual homes across Shropshire, providing residential, nursing and dementia care for elderly people.

For further information about the career opportunities at Coverage Care’s homes, visit https://www.carehomejob.co.uk/.

Care, News

A guaranteed white Christmas for Birchwood Care Home this year!

Kent- based Birchwood pulling out stops to end 2020 with seasonal joy

Birchwood House, the Tunbridge Wells-based care home will be going all out this year to make sure it’s a white and jolly Christmas for the residents. With a snow machine set to add a dusting of white to the beautiful House, staff are planning a festive event which is sure to bring joy to the residents after a difficult year.

With Christmas just around the corner, the team at Birchwood House have been doing all they can to keep things as normal as possible and keep spirits high by working hard behind the scenes to create a magical Christmas celebration for the residents.

On Wednesday 16th December, Birchwood House will be transformed into a winter extravaganza. The residents will be treated to a home-cooked Christmas buffet followed by gifts from Santa and his elf with thanks to Ian Hitchman, maintenance operative of the care home, who will be dressing up as Father Christmas. The residents will then be taken through to the ‘Winter Wonderland’ to enjoy all of the festivities on offer.

The conservatory at the care home will include a beautiful array of fairy lights, pretend snowballs and snowflakes. A lit up festive stag and a dusting of snow will be the backdrop to staff singing Christmas carols. There will also be a paper mache snowman. The entrance hall of the care home will also have a huge Christmas Tree on display.

In a normal year, Christmas at Birchwood would include family and carollers, but with Covid restrictions in place for most of the UK, this year is a little different.

But it doesn’t end there – the team at Birchwood will be extending the festivities throughout the run up to Christmas. Every team member will be dressing up in Christmas attire during the week to bring a sense of cheer to all.

Claire Tye, Birchwood House deputy manager, comments: “Christmas has always been a time where we focus on our families, being together enjoying the Christmas period.” Claire added “This year has been one like no other, and to bring it to a close, we wanted to do something special for the residents who won’t be able to spend the day with their loved ones. We are so excited to be able to sprinkle some joy and pretend snow at Birchwood House to bring smiles to all – including our fantastic team here”.

Care, News

Tunbridge Wells care home enjoys socially-distanced harvest festival

Birchwood House, the Tunbridge Wells-based care home, hosted a socially-distanced Harvest Hoedown in its grounds on Wednesday 9th September, for all staff and residents. Sealed food was also donated to benefit the local community.

Based in a period country house in the village of Speldhurst, Birchwood House has been locked down since before the start of the pandemic to keep residents safe. The Hoedown was arranged by the senior Birchwood House team who were keen to give staff and residents a mini-escape from a challenging time, as well as helping the local community and St Mary’s Church with harvest donations.

The harvest celebration took place in the fresh air, with a country and western theme, complete with straw bales, staff in checked shirts and cowboy hats and hats for residents. Country music was the backdrop for a range of games for staff, such as sponge throwing, apple bobbing, country dancing and an obstacle course. Seated activities included a tin can alley game and giant dominos.

The Hoedown followed the success of Birchwood’s July summer BBQ and Afternoon Tea in August, and was the care home’s biggest event to date. Event organisers, Helen Geer, Birchwood House Manager, and Claire Tye, Birchwood House Deputy Manager, asked for contributions of sealed food produce, which will be given to St Mary’s Church and the local community.

Niral Patel, Birchwood House’s owner, comments: “Following the difficulties that the Covid-19 crisis posed for us all, we wanted to provide everyone with a way to socialise and have fun in a safe and enjoyable environment. We also wanted to say a big thank you to our fantastic staff, who we are very lucky to have.

Our previous parties have gone down really well, and this was our biggest yet. It’s also vitally important that we are able to make a difference to the local community, even though we are currently still in lockdown.”

Care, Health, Wales News

Care expert to ‘positively disrupt’ the sector and drive transformational change

A CARE consultant is helping firms in the sector drive transformational change and future-proof their businesses.

Susan Jones, owner of Thoughts Become Things, is working in partnership with private home care providers and franchises to “positively disrupt” the industry.

Susan, from Penrhyn Bay, near Llandudno, says since the pandemic there has been a real appetite to bring a fresh outlook to the care arena.

“We wanted to build on that momentum for change and created free Future-proof Your Business events with leading names in the sector, including Alfie Jones, Helen Butler, Joshua James Lucy, Simon Crowther and Sophie Coulthard,” said Susan.

“We were overwhelmed by the response, but it does reflect the way the sector has united in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Susan counts national organisations Apollo Care, Home Instead, Radfield, Calon Lan and PerCurra Care among the clients she has worked with since launching her business and has forged new partnerships in past months.

The topics covered so far range from strategy and planning to marketing, risk management, becoming a thought leader, and HR.  Future sessions are planned for September.

Susan added: “In addition to the above we also recognise that assistive technology is going to play a significant part in both care homes and home care.”

“Care businesses need to be ready for this new world and learn to embrace it and see this as an enabler, not a threat to their organisations.”

The free “time and task” care delivered by local authorities is an option for many pensioners if families are not able to support them, but more and more want a person-centred service tailored to suit their needs.

“The onset of modern technology will lead to a massive shift in the way care is provided, and that’s happening already,” said Susan, who founded the company in 2018 after working at Home Instead for three years as a business performance manager.

“People are living longer, and they want to be looked after when they are unable to look after themselves, so private care and assistive technology are going to come into play more and more.”

“Realistically, as we all become more time poor, families are less and less in a position to be the main carer for their loved ones.”

She added: “With assistive technology – which can be anything from door and movement sensors, systems tracking hydration and temperature sensors – there is peace of mind for families.

“More and more providers are now offering this equipment as part of a valued service and it is having a major impact, especially with pensioners who are fiercely independent and reluctant to receive care.”

“This is the direction the industry is moving in. Home care is changing, and will continue to at a rapid rate, so businesses need to be ready for it.”

For more information, visit www.thoughtsbthings.co.uk

Watch the online seminars and events with Thoughts Become Things on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp7ebTtH9B8DtsHvm59BEoQ/featured?disable_polymer=1